Greene Co. K9 Unit Relies Solely on Donations

Greene Co. K9 Unit Relies Solely on Donations

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SPRINGFIELD, mo. -- James Craigmyle, a corporal with the K9 Division at the Greene County Sheriff's Office, has been partners with K9 Lor for about nine years.

He says all three K9s with the department serve dual purpose recognizing five different narcotics and doing patrol work, searching for missing persons and suspects.

He says Lor trains every day. During the interview, we put Lor's skills to the test and had him find my car keys.

"You can just toss them out there anywhere," said Craigmyle.

Searching for human scent, in less than two minutes, he finds it.

"So, whenever he lays down, that's when you know he found it," Craigmyle said.

Lor's had his fair share of experiences in the line of duty.

"He tracked a suspect from a motor vehicle pursuit that committed a burglary. Underneath a house, him and Lor got into a fight. Lor sustained an injury and broke a tooth off," Craigmyle said.

Lor's dental work then, and removing that tooth recently, were all paid for by donations.

"Most people don't know, but the K9 unit is funded solely off of donations," Craigmyle said.

The K9 unit has existed since 2009 and has never been in the Greene County budget. Craigmyle says it costs about $15,000 to purchase a dog and train him, and another $10-15,000 to maintain the unit of three K9s.

"I would like to have a fourth dog for Greene County, but that's something that we just don't have in the budget right now," said Craigmyle.

The Sheriff's Office will be holding a fundraiser to help with the expenses, but also give citizens a chance to meet their K9 officers.

"And for the community to be able to come out and see the dogs and realize that they aren't these mean dogs that everybody says they are, they love to have fun to be pet," said Craigmyle.

The Pancake for Paws Fundraiser is this Saturday from 8-10 a.m. at Bair's Sports Grill on South Campbell. It will include a bounce house for the kids, Springfield's Batman will be there, as well as the Cardinal's Louie and Fetch.